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Abstract

Space exploration applications can benefit
greatly from autonomous systems. Great distances, limited
communications and high costs make direct operations
impossible while mandating operations reliability and
efficiency beyond what traditional commanding can
provide. Autonomous systems can improve reliability and
enhance spacecraft capability significantly. However, there
is reluctance to utilizing autonomous systems. In part, this is
due to general hesitation about new technologies, but a
more tangible concern is the reliability and predictability of
autonomous software.

In this paper, we describe ongoing work aimed at increasing
robustness and predictability of autonomous software, with
the ultimate goal of building trust in such systems. The
work combines state-of-the-art technologies and capabilities
in autonomous systems with advanced validation and
synthesis techniques. The focus of this paper is on the
autonomous system architecture that has been defined, and
on how it enables the application of validation techniques
for resulting autonomous systems.